Personal care products are designed to intercept and capture body exudates, such as urine and menses. Examples of commonly available personal care products include adult care products, such as incontinence pants and pads; child care products, such as diapers and training pants; and feminine care products, such as sanitary pads, panty liners, inter-labial absorbent articles, and tampons. A user wears the product either in place of an undergarment, as with child care products and some adult care products, or beneath the undergarment, as with feminine care products and other adult care products. The user generally wears the personal care product a single time and discards the product after a relatively short period of use.
By their nature, personal care products are individual and private items. Consumers prefer products that are comfortable, inconspicuous, and invisible from outside of the undergarment or clothing. Ideally, the personal care product should fully cover the user's pudendum and possess sufficient fluid capacity, yet remain essentially non-visible from the outside of the undergarment. In practice, fully covering the user's pudendum and possessing sufficient fluid capacity may result in an absorbent article that is less comfortable, more conspicuous, and more visible from the outside of the undergarment.
Historically, personal care products have been white and non-descript. This appearance conveyed a sense of a clean, hygienic, and sanitary product. In addition, the white, non-descript color permitted the personal care product to blend easily with undergarments that were also predominantly white. Currently, however, fashion trends have moved in the direction of colored and printed undergarments in a variety of styles. As a result, white, non-descript personal care products now tend to be more conspicuous and more visible when worn with colored and printed undergarments.
In addition, many consumers infer various characteristics of a personal care product based solely on the appearance of the product. For example, consumers may associate plain, white, non-descript products as being less comfortable, cheaper, and of lower quality than identical products having a contemporary, aesthetic design, print, or color. This is especially true when the white, non-descript products are sold directly next to substantially identical products having a contemporary, aesthetic design, print, or color.
Experience has shown that the look and feel of personal care products can also create or increase apprehension among users. For example, people suffering from incontinence often wear absorbent diapers or pads in lieu of or beneath their undergarments to capture and retain body exudates. The absorbent articles tend to look and feel slightly different than the user's normal undergarment. This difference in look and feel creates a constant reminder to the user of the incontinence problem, thus creating a constant source of apprehension with the user.
Many conventional personal care products include side flaps, wings, or tabs to help reduce leakage by providing additional lateral coverage to the crotch of the undergarment. The side flaps, wings, or tabs extend beyond the undergarment, making these extensions more visible and conspicuous. Some manufacturers have made the extensions transparent or translucent in an effort to reduce the visibility and conspicuousness of the extensions. However, transparent or translucent materials tend to be stiff, shiny, and lack absorbency. As a result, transparent or translucent extensions tend to be less comfortable, just as visible and conspicuous, and lack the desirable absorbent capacity.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved personal care product that looks and feels like a typical undergarment. Moreover, a need exists for an improved personal care product that mimics the current colors, prints, and styles of undergarments. Lastly, a need exists for an improved personal care product having extensions that remain comfortable, inconspicuous, and absorbent.